Please suggest home theater subwoofer for a small room!

[rshri]

Planning to buy Denon AVR (either 2700H pr 3700H) with a subwoofer. My live in an apartment and room is small (10 ft X 11 ft).
Its a closed room, but one side of it is a DG glass wall. Unfortunately, the subwoofer placement is possible only next to DG glass wall.

Subwoofer will only be used for movies in 5.1 setup (Will use crappy old HTiB speakers to start with for now). No fixed budget, but planning to spend upto around 60K for subwoofer. What are my options?

I have read that sealed sub are better for small rooms. I am thinking REL HT/1003.
Not considering Q Acoustics QB12 because I will not be buying Q Acoustic 5.0 speakers. Is QB12 good choice even without Q Acoustic 5.0 speakers?
Considering Polk HTS12 (though its ported) because I may end up buying Polk S series speakers for 5.0.
Is down-firing subwoofer better for me considering the adjacent DG glass wall?
Should I limit myself to 10 inch subwoofers, considering the small room and DG glass wall?

So many questions, help me make the decision please.

 

[Love4sound]

Subwoofers and speakers don’t have to be from the same brand or line up. If you are looking for a subtle sub the qb12 should be a good choice. I will recommend to increase your budget and go for the L12 which is equivalent to Rel HT 1205 but less in power and cost.

 

[k-pad]

Planning to buy Denon AVR (either 2700H pr 3700H) with a subwoofer. My live in an apartment and room is small (10 ft X 11 ft).
Its a closed room, but one side of it is a DG glass wall. Unfortunately, the subwoofer placement is possible only next to DG glass wall.

Subwoofer will only be used for movies in 5.1 setup (Will use crappy old HTiB speakers to start with for now). No fixed budget, but planning to spend upto around 60K for subwoofer. What are my options?

I have read that sealed sub are better for small rooms. I am thinking REL HT/1003.
Not considering Q Acoustics QB12 because I will not be buying Q Acoustic 5.0 speakers. Is QB12 good choice even without Q Acoustic 5.0 speakers?
Considering Polk HTS12 (though its ported) because I may end up buying Polk S series speakers for 5.0.
Is down-firing subwoofer better for me considering the adjacent DG glass wall?
Should I limit myself to 10 inch subwoofers, considering the small room and DG glass wall?

So many questions, help me make the decision please.

Hi Shri,
First up, you can not go wrong with any sealed sub. Or for that matter, a ported one, either, at that budget and room size. Both (room size and port style) are very good for a single sub once you run correction.

If you are going in blind, I'd suggest you restrict yourself to Rythmik, SVS, HSU and REL.
(A hobby installer friend of mine once said: Buy speakers from speaker companies and buy a sub from sub companies. It stood me in good stead during my search, so I second it)

If experiencing them is not possible under current circumstances, look for the following:
1. Port: Sealed > Ported for punch/feel; Ported > sealed for SPL (I may be wrong here, but it is just my experience)
2. Woofer: Anything between 8" to 12" works in that room, provided all other things fit in. Do look up twin 8" woofers too...
3. Power: Anything between 300W RMS to 500W RMS.
4. Look for something that gives you most options on the back plate. This may look frivolous today, but once a sub is in your room, this is what will give you the most leeway.
5. I honestly have no experience with downfiring subs (I found them sounding similar when I auditioned them. But I was really reluctant to put one in my apartment room. It was merely a mental block for me - a big woofer barking down the floor; but someone who has experienced them should be able to tell if they are good for apartments or not. From my experience - at reasonable levels, a small ported or a big sealed haven't so far attracted attention from the downstairs neighbours)
6. You'd probably need thick, heavy drapes around the window nonetheless.
7. Maybe, if you experience or know about a servo's advantage, it's just Rythmik all the way. But you need to hear it for yourself once.
Good luck on the hunt.

 

[rshri]

Getting insanely high quotes from vendrors for REL and Rythmik subwoofers. If anyone knows of any reliable vendors for these, please let me know.

 

[Love4sound]

Getting insanely high quotes from vendrors for REL and Rythmik subwoofers. If anyone knows of any reliable vendors for these, please let me know.

What quotes you got? Models and price please?

 

[rshri]

What quotes you got? Models and price please?

Sent you PM

 

[vaasu]

Planning to buy Denon AVR (either 2700H pr 3700H) with a subwoofer. My live in an apartment and room is small (10 ft X 11 ft).
Its a closed room, but one side of it is a DG glass wall. Unfortunately, the subwoofer placement is possible only next to DG glass wall.

Subwoofer will only be used for movies in 5.1 setup (Will use crappy old HTiB speakers to start with for now). No fixed budget, but planning to spend upto around 60K for subwoofer. What are my options?

I have read that sealed sub are better for small rooms. I am thinking REL HT/1003.
Not considering Q Acoustics QB12 because I will not be buying Q Acoustic 5.0 speakers. Is QB12 good choice even without Q Acoustic 5.0 speakers?
Considering Polk HTS12 (though its ported) because I may end up buying Polk S series speakers for 5.0.
Is down-firing subwoofer better for me considering the adjacent DG glass wall?
Should I limit myself to 10 inch subwoofers, considering the small room and DG glass wall?

So many questions, help me make the decision please.

you have a small room so 10" sub is enough. I have RSL speedwoofer 10s a 10" sub which shakes the room while watching movies and has chest thumping bass when listening to music. As you are willing to spend 60k try to extend it and get a quality sub from companies like REL, SVS, Rhythmik. Sunfire brand hrs line also are good subs. I was so lucky that i got the sub for just 30k. A good subwoofer needs a good cable too. I use blue jeans lc 1 to connect my sub to the av receiver.

 

[alphacentury100]

You can also try the BIC PL200 II. These subwoofers perform well for movies(5.1) and is also well within your budget.

 

[heliumflight]

Q Acoustics QB12 Subwoofer

 

[prateekatasniya]

Hi Shri,
First up, you can not go wrong with any sealed sub. Or for that matter, a ported one, either, at that budget and room size. Both (room size and port style) are very good for a single sub once you run correction.

If you are going in blind, I'd suggest you restrict yourself to Rythmik, SVS, HSU and REL.
(A hobby installer friend of mine once said: Buy speakers from speaker companies and buy a sub from sub companies. It stood me in good stead during my search, so I second it)

If experiencing them is not possible under current circumstances, look for the following:
1. Port: Sealed > Ported for punch/feel; Ported > sealed for SPL (I may be wrong here, but it is just my experience)
2. Woofer: Anything between 8" to 12" works in that room, provided all other things fit in. Do look up twin 8" woofers too...
3. Power: Anything between 300W RMS to 500W RMS.
4. Look for something that gives you most options on the back plate. This may look frivolous today, but once a sub is in your room, this is what will give you the most leeway.
5. I honestly have no experience with downfiring subs (I found them sounding similar when I auditioned them. But I was really reluctant to put one in my apartment room. It was merely a mental block for me - a big woofer barking down the floor; but someone who has experienced them should be able to tell if they are good for apartments or not. From my experience - at reasonable levels, a small ported or a big sealed haven't so far attracted attention from the downstairs neighbours)
6. You'd probably need thick, heavy drapes around the window nonetheless.
7. Maybe, if you experience or know about a servo's advantage, it's just Rythmik all the way. But you need to hear it for yourself once.
Good luck on the hunt.

Buy speakers from speaker company and sub from sub company isn't the right ideology.
Good speaker designer would know how to make a good sub, but not vice versa.

 

[rshri]

Guys, thanks for all the advice and guidance. Finally settled for Rythmik L12.

 

[k-pad]

Buy speakers from speaker company and sub from sub company isn't the right ideology.
Good speaker designer would know how to make a good sub, but not vice versa.

interesting...
What would be a good sub from a good speaker manufacturer, that would, say, compare with SVS, Rythmik, REL, HSU or RSL?
The Indian market being what it is, did not really come across any good speaker co sub...
regards

 

[prateekatasniya]

interesting...
What would be a good sub from a good speaker manufacturer, that would, say, compare with SVS, Rythmik, REL, HSU or RSL?
The Indian market being what it is, did not really come across any good speaker co sub...
regards

Actually the good speaker brands makes better subwoofers( specially ported) .
But the subwoofer brands market really well.
That's why many think SVS is one of the best( which is far from reality).

Check subwoofers from premium brands like Meyer sound, ascendo, pro audio technology, alcons.

Unless one has knowledge of psychoacoustics and physics it's difficult for him to judge a subwoofer just by looking at the specs and design.

The more you understand about all this, more your realise why mainstream brands are selling purely by marketing.

 

[OM_2K19]

I am thinking REL HT/1003.

You won't repent with this...

 

[prateekatasniya]

interesting...
What would be a good sub from a good speaker manufacturer, that would, say, compare with SVS, Rythmik, REL, HSU or RSL?
The Indian market being what it is, did not really come across any good speaker co sub...
regards

Check subwoofers from speaker brands like JBL, REVEL, focal.
Their ported subs will be a lot better on subjective listening when compared to how they are perceived just by specs

 

[Decadent_Spectre]

Check subwoofers from speaker brands like JBL, REVEL, focal.
Their ported subs will be a lot better on subjective listening when compared to how they are perceived just by specs

I disagree, Harman is rubbish. SVS will be better than anything from Harman's consumer division. Only people who buy Harman's marketing (aka research) believe they make good products. Harman's pro division will be better than SVS but there are better pro audio companies than JBL.

 

[prateekatasniya]

I disagree, Harman is rubbish. SVS will be better than anything from Harman's consumer division. Only people who buy Harman's marketing (aka research) believe they make good products. Harman's pro division will be better than SVS but there are better pro audio companies than JBL.

I disagree.

 

[Subbiya]

Where can we get RSL subwoofer in India.?

 

[suku_patel_22]

I got my REL HT/1003 MKII in the end of May this year, and using it in my 10*14 feet living room. I find it perfect for my needs. I had also liked the Polk HTS 12, but went with REL for it's more compact size.

You don't need to match subwoofer abd speaker brands. The only thing you possibly want to match is the LCR, preferably the same speaker or from the same line-up.

Edit: Saw later that you've already got a Rythmic. Congrats!! Ended up replying to an old thread

 

[DB1989]

interesting...
What would be a good sub from a good speaker manufacturer, that would, say, compare with SVS, Rythmik, REL, HSU or RSL?
The Indian market being what it is, did not really come across any good speaker co sub...
regards

KEF immediately comes to mind. Their subwoofers (KC62 and KF92) are arguably on the cutting edge of sub technology.

Speakers and subwoofers from Arendal, Perlisten and M&K sound are highly regarded. In fact, M&K sound subwoofers are considered better than their equivalent SVS counterparts.

Both Emotiva and Klipsch have decent subs which are good VFM.